She Couldn't Lose Him Too
by remusoflupin
Summary: Snapshots of Harry and Ginny during the war; short and bittersweet. (Art by Viria.)


**Here are some flashbacks from the war from either Harry or **_**Ginny **_**(her P.O.V will be in italics). **

…

It's not an easy thing, fighting the darkest wizard of all time. It takes a lot of things – it takes courage, certainly, but bravery alone isn't enough to fight your way through it. You need a purpose, a light, a ray of hope in the seemingly infinite darkness…

And Harry's was Ginny.

Throughout the war, there were times – like when Ron had left – that he had been close to giving up. But he never did. He was fighting for the light, battling against the dark, and always, _always, _fighting for Ginny.

…

Harry pulled the Marauder's Map off of his bedside table, sighing. With Ron gone, Hermione had taken to sitting in the front room reading and muttering to herself. He had to admit it – they were broken. But, then again… he looked at the map and smiled. Gryffindor common room, sitting with Neville Longbottom. He had taken to following Ginny's dot around the castle in his free time – which he seemed to have a lot of lately.

He knew it was a bit odd, this following of her dot - but he missed her. Breaking up with her… it had been hard, and it was, if possible, made worse by her reaction to it. She didn't scream, she didn't shout. She protested, yes – she was Ginny, after all, his little fighter – but she accepted it, as if she knew it was coming. How could she know it was it was coming before he knew it himself?

Actually, he knew the answer to that. It was in the same way that he knew things about her – what she was going to say before she said it, what she would do… well, most of the time, anyway.

He couldn't deny it any longer. He loved her.

…

"_Ginny, we need to leave!" Molly Weasley's voice echoed up the stairs._

"_What? Why?"_

"_Just… pack a bag."_

"_Oh. O- okay."_

_Ginny raced around her small room, throwing clothes into a small (but extended – Hermione had taught her _some_ tricks) bag. She grabbed her wand and looked around her room for anything she'd missed, whipping her head from side to side._

"_Ginny, please!"_

_There it was. She snatched up the small photo and closed her door, sprinting down the stairs. Seeing her arrive, her father nodded at her mother, who apparated. The wards must be down, she realised worriedly, and took her father's arm. They twisted on the spot and apparated, just as the door was blasted open._

_She would never get used to apparating. She felt as though her whole body was being dragged through a tiny tube, pushed in all directions. Just when she couldn't bare it a second longer, they arrived. She collapsed onto the floor at… Aunt Muriel's house? She groaned and stood up along with her parents, who hugged her tightly, muttering her name._

"_Ginny, Ginny, my baby…" her mother cried "Death eaters… so close…"_

_Her father pulled her mother away, and they sat on the sofa together, holding hands. Ginny smiled slightly, and turned round and looked out the window. Aunt Muriel was outside, but looked at her and motioned for her to go to her room._

_Ginny gratefully walked up the stairs, every step slower than the last. She fell onto her bed, and fished a crumpled, folded picture out of her pocket. She stared at it for a long moment. It wasn't great quality, as wizard photos go. But to her, it was priceless. _

_At the back, arms around each other, were Fred and George, grinning and raising their eyebrows at Ron, who was being hugged by Hermione. Neville and Luna were there too, looking out of the window as Luna pointed out a strange invisible creature. And there at the front, smiling at the camera (or Colin, who was taking the picture) were her and Harry, arms round each other, Ginny kissing him on the cheek._

_A tear dripped down onto the photo, and she hastily wiped it off, and put the photo on her dresser. Hurry up, Harry, she thought desperately. We need you._

…

Harry felt the dirt beneath him, and knew he was back. It hadn't been a choice, really. He could have gone on, seen his parents, and Sirius… but he had to come back. He had to defeat Voldemort. He had to come back to help everyone who had ever helped him, and even those who hadn't. And he had to see Ginny, if only one last time.

Although, saying that… he had pretty high hopes for the outcome of the battle.

…

_He was just lying there, in Hagrid's arms. Why was he just lying there? It wasn't like he was… oh God. No. She couldn't lose him, too._

"_Harry!" she screamed, desperately trying to reach him. She struggled against her father, who was holding her back with tears running down his face. Ginny watched what was happening around her bleakly, knowing that, without Harry, the war… the war would be over, and the dark would win. _

"_Dumbledore's Army!" she heard Neville scream. She joined in with yelling, abruptly coming to a decision. Harry wouldn't want her to give up. She would never give up. She would _fight.

_Neville continued to fight for the light. The sorting hat… it was burning, on his head. And she couldn't move._

_Suddenly, with a roar, Neville broke free, and, with a flash of silver, the mighty snake's head whipped through the air, spinning._

_Chaos erupted, as everyone around her realised that for some reason, they were unaffected by the curses from the dark. The fight carried her indoors as she heard Hagrid yelling "Where's Harry?" _

_She tried to fight her way back to him, but the crowd pushed her into the Great Hall. She slammed into someone, who cackled. "Oh, looky here! It's another ickle Weasley blood traitor! Crucio!"_

_Ginny dove to the side as Luna and Hermione, who also had tears running down their faces, started throwing curses at the crazy witch. _

"_Sectumsempra!" screamed Bellatrix, laughing gleefully. _

_They were losing, Ginny realised at once. Even against the three of them, Bellatrix was stronger…_

"_NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" came a yell from behind her, and Ginny found herself being pushed out the way by her mother. "OUT OF MY WAY!" Terrified, yet unable to help, she watched her mother battle the Dark Lord's most faithful lieutenant. They were surrounded by students trying to help, but no-one could. And then, with a final curse, Bellatrix Lestrange, the darkest of the Death Eaters… fell to the hands of Molly Weasley._

_A huge boom echoed through the hall. Kingsley, McGonagall and Slughorn were thrown through the air as Voldemort, with a scream of fury, rounded on the killer of his most faithful servant, wand raised…_

"_Protego!" came a sudden scream, as suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, Harry Potter stood between the two._

"_Harry!" she cried, before she realised that now was not the time. She could only watch fearfully as Harry, her Harry, circled and taunted the darkest wizard of all time. Finally, Voldemort cracked. Their spells collided, and she was temporarily blinded by a golden fire… and then, it was over._

_He-who-must-not-be-named was finally gone._

...

"Harry!"

The winning of the war came with a terrible price. Fred, Remus, Tonks, Dobby… they were just some of the closest loses of the final battle – and that's not counting the hundreds who had died before – like Sirius… like Harry's parents…

And he wasn't saying that it was okay, that their loses were fair, because they weren't. But the war was finally over, and he could finally have a family. He would always be "The Boy-Who-Lived" to many, and that would always be the case. But to many others, he was, finally, just Harry.

And they, finally, were Harry and Ginny.


End file.
